Erin White of The Wall Street Journal Online recently addressed the question of how long
to stay in one job. "For decades, conventional wisdom held that hiring managers preferred job candidates
with years of experience at their companies," White wrote. "Employers wanted candidates with stable track records
who had demonstrated loyalty and commitment to their firms.
"Then the technology bubble came and it seemed workers were job-hopping every six months in
search of the next opportunity. Many employers sought bold risk-takers and didn't care whether
candidates had hopped around. Some companies even shunned workers with a long history at one company,
for fear they would be too wrapped up in an 'old economy' culture. When the bubble burst, many workers continued
to hop as mass layoffs and bankruptcies made it difficult to stay in one place for very long," White wrote.
Noting that the consensus on longevity has seesawed so much that it is hard to tell where the consensus lies, White
observed that "Some workers are penalized for too many short stints on a resume, while others are
labeled 'stagnant' for staying too long in one place."
White noted that a recent survey by executive-search firm Korn/Ferry International showed that 47 percent
of respondents said that two years was the shortest acceptable amount of time for a senior executive
to stay at one company.
"Even if you do stay two years," White noted, "a consecutive series of two-year stints still
will raise red flags with hiring managers. The yardstick varies by age and profession, too.
Employers tend to like longer track records in financial professionals, for instance, but sometimes
tolerate more job-hopping among technology workers. When you're younger, hopping around is more
acceptable than when you're older."
But White also pointed out that staying too long in a job can be just as detrimental as stints that are
too short. White cited "more than 10 years at the same company" as a possible indicator that "the person is stalled
in his career and isn't expanding his skills aggressively enough." White also noted that, "Other times the fear
is that no matter how qualified the candidate is, he won't be able to adapt to a new company if
he has been at another one for so long."
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Pat Katepoo offers suggestions for making a request to telecommute.
Four Steps to Getting Your Manager's Approval to Telecommute:
1. Put your request in writing. A written proposal should detail your
work-from-home schedule, which job tasks will be done off-site, and how communication
with the main office will be maintained.
2. Don't get personal. Present the business case for telecommuting.
The spike in your gas bill and a lengthy commute may be motivating factors for telecommuting, but
leave those out of your proposal. Emphasize instead the employer pay-offs; double-digit productivity
gains are typical for remote workers. Note that by working from your home office, you'll have
fewer interruptions and social distractions, allowing greater focus on job tasks.
3. Propose two days a week of telecommuting. This starting point preserves a reasonable amount
of office "face time," yet is sufficient to prove the merits of working off-site. It's also strategic;
if your boss objects to your initial request, you'll have room to negotiate to one day a week.
4. Emphasize a trial period. A trial period of three to six months
allows your manager to say "yes" to your proposal without committing to a long-term
arrangement. Then it's up to you to deliver measurable results to show that an extension is warranted.
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